Migrant men locked out of Midtown hotel after refusing to go to Brooklyn 'refugee camp'

Men sleep outside the Watson Hotel in Hell's Kitchen on Jan. 30, 2023
Men sleep outside the Watson Hotel in Hell's Kitchen on Jan. 30, 2023. Photo credit Samantha Liebman

NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- Several dozen migrant men camped outside a Hell’s Kitchen hotel Monday after they refused to move to the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal, which they said was an inhospitable refugee camp.

The Watson Hotel wouldn’t let the single men back inside after they were removed to make way for what the city said would be a location repurposed for migrant families with children.

So the men slept in tents on 57th Street, between 9th and 10th avenues, just west of the area known as Billionaires' Row, which has some of the priciest apartments in the city.

Sergio Tupac Uzurin, of NYC ICE Watch, said the city doesn’t need to move the men to the cruise terminal when they’re surrounded by spacious and vacant apartments in Midtown.

“We’re on Billionaires' Row, 57th Street,” Uzurin said. “These super towers are 40% vacancy rate. With their enormous apartments, they could house a good chunk of the migrants.”

Some of the migrants who were among the first to the latest humanitarian relief center at the Red Hook terminal turned around over what they said were inhumane conditions.

“Some of them took the train back, some of them walked back, and told everyone else, ‘Don’t get on these buses,’” Uzurin said. “’It’s a detention center. It’s a refugee camp. There’s four bathrooms for 1,000 people. There’s no space for personal belongings. It’s cold.’”

There are nearly 100 bathrooms and storage lockers at the terminal facility, according to sources at City Hall.

The entrance to the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal is seen on Jan. 23, 2023, in the Red Hook neighborhood of Brooklyn. Mayor Eric Adams announced that a new migrant relief center for single adult men will open soon at the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal
The entrance to the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal is seen on Jan. 23, 2023, in the Red Hook neighborhood of Brooklyn. Mayor Eric Adams announced that a new migrant relief center for single adult men will open soon at the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal. Photo credit Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images

Among the men sleeping outside the hotel was Franklin from Venezuela. Through an interpreter, he said he would have no opportunity for work out at the terminal because it’s remote and there’s no transportation there after 11 p.m.

“No reasonable person can be expected to prosper in those conditions,” he said in Spanish.

Activists are skeptical of the city’s claims that the hotel is being cleared for migrant families.

“We take everything that the city says with a grain of salt. They’ve lied to these migrants many times, and the truth is the solution isn’t moving anybody to the refugee camp, it’s opening the vacant apartments,” Uzurin said.

Several groups are now helping the men, including by donating tents and food, and by offering legal advice.

No police action has been taken as of Monday, and no arrests have been reported.

In a statement, Mayor Eric Adams’ spokesperson, Fabien Levy, said: “This weekend, we began the process of moving single adult men from the Watson Hotel to Brooklyn Cruise Terminal, as we transition the hotel to meet the large number of asylum seeking families with children.”

“More than 42,000 asylum seekers have arrived in New York City since last spring and we continue to surpass our moral obligations as we provide asylum seekers with shelter, food, health care, education, and a host of other services,” Levy continued. “The facilities at Brooklyn Cruise Terminal will provide the same services as every other humanitarian relief center in the city, and the scheduled relocations to Brooklyn Cruise Terminal this weekend took place as planned. We remain in serious need of support from both our state and federal governments.”

Featured Image Photo Credit: Samantha Liebman